Latest news with #NAMIWisconsin
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
People agree change is needed in mental health services. Partisan gridlock stalls progress.
At the sober living facility in Milwaukee, a man sits alone in his room ruminating. He's recovering from an addiction to crack-cocaine and has lived with schizophrenia since he was 12. He remembers the number, 988, and he calls it. His parents, Rick and Sandy Schultz, are well aware of the consequences if their son acts out at the facility: he could be physically restrained, the police might be called, and he could be expelled from the program and placed back on probation. But that's not what happened. A counselor at 988 Wisconsin Lifeline stayed on the line with him and helped walk him back from the ledge, Rick Schultz said. Access to that conversation made the difference between safety and the perils he could have faced on the streets. Rick and Sandy Schultz know the stakes are high for people with severe and persistent mental illness. It's why they founded ADMIRE, an advocacy group in the greater Milwaukee area that stands for Advocates for Mental Illness Treatment Reform. And it's why, as an organization, they crowded the dais at a public hearing May 27 to deliver an urgent message to lawmakers about why the state must preserve 988 Wisconsin Lifeline. "The counselors at 988 will not hang up. They will never hang up on you," Rick Schultz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "You can talk to them for an hour or more. They give you perspective, they ground you." The federal grant for 988 is scheduled to sunset at the end of the year. Since July 2022, it has been largely funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. State Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, introduced a bill that would create statutory requirements to fund 988 Wisconsin Lifeline in the budget. It's estimated to cost a little more than $12 million, according to NAMI Wisconsin and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It's one of a dozen bills James, chair of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention, introduced this session as part of his focus on sustainable, bipartisan efforts for advancing mental health in Wisconsin, he told the news organization over email. James is far from the only lawmaker introducing bills related to mental health this session. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have introduced a raft of mental health bills that would create permanent state funding for the 988 Wisconsin Lifeline, address behavioral workforce shortages, expand upon and improve emergency crisis facilities, and improve access to mental health services. But whether they can see eye to eye on their bills will determine whether the state advances the call to improve mental health care in Wisconsin, one that advocates have been urging it to do for years. Between federal funding streams ending for 988 and workforce shortages unable to keep pace with a steadily aging population, "the time to act is now," said Mary Kay Battaglia, executive director of NAMI Wisconsin. Most recently, on June 2, Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa, introduced a new package of 10 bills dubbed "Mental Healthcare is Healthcare," which aims to advance persistent problems like behavioral health workforce shortages, diversifying the workforce, expanding access to youth and college students, and widening the scope of insurance coverage to include mental health. Vining, who has a background in psychology, told the news organization these bills were built from scratch to represent the needs of Wisconsinites. "We want to make sure that we have mental health access for every Wisconsinite. We've said this over and over again," Vining said. For any bill to get a public hearing in the Republican-controlled Legislature depends on whether a Republican lawmaker authors or signs on to support it. That can make or break Democrats' authored bills and packages. The deadline for Republicans to sign on to Vining's mental health package is June 13, but already, Republicans have cast doubts on it. Much of that concern stems from aspects of the bills that touch what's become the third-rail issue of diversity, equity and inclusion. One of the bills in the package, for example, would create a grant program funded through the Department of Public Instruction to hire school mental health professionals who are part of a racial minority. Another would train school counselors and school social workers to better understand LGBTQ+ rights. Nearly 75% of mental health professionals in the United States are white, a statistic that health care organizations like Anxiety and Depression Association of America say could create a barrier to care for people of color, especially if a clinic's demographics don't match the school community. That's been part of Vining's argument for the bill, after talking with mental health professionals around the state about the racial disparities in mental health care. Diversifying the field could help improve outcomes for Wisconsin's children of color, at a time when Wisconsin has the largest gap between the well-being of White children and children of color in the country, according to a 2022 report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. But James expressed concerns about bills that involve significant spending or prioritize certain groups over others. "Every child in our state deserves to grow up knowing they are not alone and that they have the resources they need to fight these often-silent battles," he said. Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein said James' 988 bill "is not a serious bill," according to a recent article by the Cap Times. Hesselbein cited a lack of information on funding, the size of the grants or how those grants would be administered. That bill would require the state Department of Health Services to award grants to organizations that provide crisis intervention services and resources to individuals who contact 988. No fiscal projection has yet to be tied to the bill, which gives lawmakers like Hesselbein pause. Just as Vining's package of bills has no Republicans' support, James' 988 bill also lacks Democrats' support. When Vining introduced a similar package of bills last session, no Republicans agreed to co-sponsor. She attributed this to filing the bills late in the session ― a decision she made while trying to persuade her Republican colleagues to author them. This time around, once her bills receive numbers and are assigned to committees, Vining intends to hand-deliver a letter to the committee chair and ask for a hearing. "I am one of the Democrats that's gotten hearings from my bills doing that, so it has worked. We'll start talking to more and more Republicans," Vining said. Cementing 988 Wisconsin Lifeline into the state budget is mandatory, said Battaglia from NAMI Wisconsin, who called James' 988 bill "a no-brainer" and a high priority for the mental health organization. "The 6,000 to 7,000 calls per month should be an indication that we want mental health support and services in our state," Battaglia said. "Legislators must understand that (988 Wisconsin Lifeline) helps navigate people to services and resources. This is the time for them to act on that." For years, mental health advocates have pushed the Wisconsin Legislature to expand mental health services in ways that go beyond crisis response. Creating a state-funded stream for 988 is among NAMI Wisconsin's priorities, Battaglia said, but the behavioral health workforce shortage increasingly has Battaglia worried. Battaglia supports Vining's bills that would expand the workforce. One bill would create stipends for prospective school social workers who are required to pursue one to two semesters of internships before they can be certified. Typically, these internships are unpaid, which creates a barrier for some students to get licensed. But legislative sessions can sometimes feel like the movie "Groundhog's Day" to mental health advocates. Each year, advocates stress the need for the state to fund community support programs that reach people where they are ― days, months and even years before a crisis. Gov. Tony Evers has included provisions for the state to support community support programs, which are currently funded on a county-by-county basis, in the last two bienniums. Yet every other year, that funding is cut from the state budget. Related: Republicans scrap over 30 programs dedicated to behavioral health care from Evers' budget A major reason efforts to improve mental health care tend to fail, says Battaglia, is because "we don't have a real mental health care system" to build on. Instead, it's largely a reactionary system, one where the lion's share of funding goes to emergency crisis services. "It's very hard for (lawmakers) to look at the long game," Battaglia said. "If you were going to look at the long game, you would invest in community services, and instead, what we do is we invest in crisis services." Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@ or view her X (Twitter) profile at @natalie_eilbert. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin lawmakers divided by party on how to improve mental health
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump administration wants to cut 988's LGBTQ+ youth line. Baldwin vows to fight for it.
The Trump administration intends to cut funding for a specialized line dedicated to LGBTQ+ youths and young adults on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, according to a leaked budget proposal reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. All calls to 988 connect people in need with a crisis counselor, but two high-risk groups, military veterans and LGBTQ+ youths, were identified early as requiring a more culturally sensitive approach. Just as veterans may feel more inclined to open up to someone who has lived through the experiences of war and active duty, LGBTQ+ youths may also express themselves more authentically to someone who understands what it means to be queer. Those calls are staffed by people who understand the issues facing LGBTQ+ youths, such as discrimination and the complexity of family support. They also can connect callers to support and resources tailored to LGBTQ+ people. Having a specialized line for LGBTQ+ youths, too, increases the likelihood that a young person will reach out if they're experiencing a crisis, said Mary Kay Battaglia, executive director of NAMI Wisconsin, which stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness. "It makes it much more comfortable, knowing you're going to talk to someone that understands the stressors you're going through," Battaglia said. LGBTQ+ youths are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, according to the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focused on suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ young people. Research from the nonprofit estimates that at least one LGBTQ+ youth attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the United States. In step with national trends, Wisconsin's youths continue to struggle with their mental health, but conditions like anxiety, depression and suicidal thought disproportionately impact the state's LGBTQ+ students. The 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which surveys high schoolers across Wisconsin, has found lesbian, gay and bisexual youth have the highest rates of mental health concern. A separate survey focused on trans youth in Wisconsin shows that this population has even higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thought, despite making up just 4% of the student population. DHS emphasized over email that these elevated mental health conditions do not stem from their sexual orientation or gender expression, but rather, how LGBTQ+ people are treated, whether due to bullying, discrimination and/or societal and family rejection. These mental health concerns have been exacerbated by ramped-up rhetoric on the federal level that denies the existence of transgender and gender nonbinary youths. A 409-page report published May 1 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has gone as far as to dismiss the need entirely for gender-affirming care in young people who experience gender dysphoria. "The LGBTQ community is under more political attack than we've seen in years," U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That a lifeline for those in crisis would be taken away is outrageous." The news organization reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for comment, but did not hear back. Baldwin, a Democrat who was responsible for the creation and congressional enactment of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, has championed additional funding for the three-digit crisis line, which launched in July 2022. Of the more than $400 million allocated nationally for fiscal year 2024, a little more than $33 million went to the LGBTQ+ youth line. The elimination of a specialized crisis line for LGBTQ+ youths would further chip away at a program that federal cuts have been slowly eroding. February's cuts, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, hobbled Veterans Affairs, and included the termination of 15 employees who operate the Veterans Crisis Line, the specialized 988 Suicide and Prevention line dedicated to veterans. After Baldwin became aware of those fired employees, she urged Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to reinstate them. "We do believe the folks who were laid off have been reinstated, but it takes constant vigilance with this administration because they have been running roughshod with their personnel and funding actions," Baldwin said. By the end of February, the Department of Health and Human Services slashed 10% of SAMHSA, which funds the 988 Lifeline. By the end of March, the federal health agency stripped $1 billion from SAMHSA in federal grants allocated to states during the pandemic, and fired another 10,000 employees. This slashing away of SAMHSA appears to have served as a prelude to HHS' restructuring plan to roll the mental health agency into a new agency within HHS called Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA. Baldwin has vowed to fight against the elimination of 988's specialty line for LGBTQ+ youths, emphasizing that it is Congress, not HHS, that decides how funding is spent. Similarly, Baldwin said she would take action to preserve SAMHSA, which not only oversees 988 Lifeline but substance abuse and mental health programs across the country. If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@ or view her X (Twitter) profile at @natalie_eilbert. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump administration wants to cut separate LGBTQ+ line for 988 callers
